Oklahoma's highest court dismissed a lawsuit on Wednesday by the last two known living survivors of the 1921 Tulsa race massacre, who were seeking reparations for the violence and destruction that resulted in the deaths of hundreds of Black people.

The Oklahoma Supreme Court upheld a judge's previous decision, stating that the state's public nuisance law could not be applied to address the long-term consequences of such a historical event.

On May 31, 1921, a white mob attacked Tulsa's Greenwood neighborhood, known as "Black Wall Street," leading to the deaths of up to 300 people, mostly Black. Lawyers for survivors Lessie Benningfield Randle, 109, and Viola Fletcher, 110, argued that the city of Tulsa and others had created a public nuisance through the massacre, resulting in racial disparities, economic inequalities, and trauma that persisted to this day.

They, along with Fletcher's brother Hughes Van Ellis, who died while the case was pending, sought compensation for victims, reconstruction of buildings, and the return of land to the Black community.

Justice Dustin Rowe, appointed by Republican Governor Kevin Stitt, wrote that although the plaintiffs' grievances were valid, they did not fall under the scope of the public nuisance statute, which is limited to criminal or property-based issues.

Rowe asserted that the generational inequities resulting from the massacre should be addressed by policymakers, not the courts. Seven other justices agreed with Rowe, while Justice James Edmondson partially dissented.

The plaintiffs' legal team announced plans to request a reconsideration of the decision and called on the U.S. Department of Justice to investigate the massacre. At the time of the massacre, Greenwood had over 10,000 Black residents, racial segregation was strict, and the Ku Klux Klan had significant influence in Oklahoma.

The violence was triggered when a white woman accused a Black man of grabbing her arm in an elevator. The man was arrested, and a local newspaper reported he had tried to assault the woman.

A white mob surrounded the courthouse, and after a shot was fired during a confrontation between a white man and a Black World War One veteran, the violence erupted, resulting in the destruction of 35 blocks of Greenwood.